The Green People
by heatqueen
Summary: There is a tribe on the very outskirts of Oz where the people are born with a gene that enables their skin to turn green on the consumption of certain substances. When Elphaba finds out about them, she knows she has to find them in order to find out the answer to her question: Why oh why is her skin green, and how can she cure it? Eventually intended Gelphie.
1. Chapter 1

**The Green People**

**A/N: To anyone who is following 'Moment of Weakness', I am still writing it, I promise! Unfortunately I'm doing everything off my iPad right now because my laptop charger's bust so I'm afraid my updates will be a lot slower. Sorry!**

**Also, Glinda's position in the story is very different so her personality will be affected as a result. I want to try and keep her vase character traits but build on how she's been affected by this position so I hope I succeed.**

**Chapter 1**

The words on the pages of the old, frayed library book were one thousand needles piercing Elphaba's skin. She rechecked the paragraph to make sure she was reading it correctly, bringing her long, thin nose close to the pages and squinting through her round glasses at the book's tiny lettering. In the midst of her shock she was engulfed with a wave of betrayal which threatened to drown her with tears, but she fought them away. Her skin would carry the marks for days if she cried.

Elphaba was proud of her thirst for knowledge and ability to absorb information easily. She turned to books in the place of friends that did not exist. She sprouted facts that made people turn their heads and say 'How on earth did you know that?' These were some of the rare times when other people took notice of her. And yet, there was one thing she had never learned: a thing which drove her crazy, a thing for which she was told there was no explanation. The one answer she so desperately sought above all others, they said, did not exist.

Why oh why was her skin green?

And yet, amidst the betrayal and anger bestowed upon her, somewhere deep down was a tiny sliver, a barely visible flicker of a different emotion. Hope. It grew as she reread the words for the third time, slowly pushing aside the angry smoke, until it was the forefront of her feelings. She might – only might, mind you, for Elphaba couldn't imagine how it had happened – have stumbled upon the reason for her frog like skin tone.

_Fools, they all are,_ she thought, _claiming to know nothing and yet the answer is in a Shiz University library book._

Her skin had been touched and prodded by many hands. They were scarcely the same hands – most did not want to come too near her in case she was contagious. They had poked and examined and taken samples and tested, and all had arrived at the same conclusion: _No explanation_.

So how had a bunch of doctors, researchers and scientists managed to overlook the unique properties of green elixir?

_The green people are a tribe of people on the very outskirts of the Vinkus, so called because they were born with a genetic mutation which enables them to turn green on the consumption of certain substances._

_Most commonly among the tribe, though scarcely known to the rest of the word, is a substance known to them as green elixir. This is a specially made substance designed to turn their skin the richest shade of green possible. This is because they believe that green skin is a sign that they are in the favour of the Unnamed God._

_However, green elixir will have adverse effects on those without the gene. Normally, a person will experience symptoms similar to those of inebriation, but other complications, including pregnancy complications, are possible as well._

Next to the text was a diagram which depicted four shots of the same human. In the first shot, the human had ordinary skin. In the second, after the consumption of the elixir, the person's skin had turned green. In the third, the green was fading. In the fourth, the skin was back to normal. Underneath the shots was a timeline, explaining the colour change as the elixir progressed through the body.

_But mine's not temporary,_ Elphaba thought solemnly.

Her fingers brushed the pages, the verdigris contrasting with the old, faded yellow paper. Elphaba quickly moved the hand out of sight, not wanting to see it. There were times, as long as she couldn't see herself, that she could almost convince herself that she had a normal skin tone like everyone else. But she would always catch the stare of one of her peers and reality would come crashing back to her.

Someone must have done the research. They were probably long dead as the book was published in the 1700s, but how had this information been forgotten? Surely there must have been people out there who found this kind of thing fascinating, who would have wanted the world to be informed about these things? After all, there was allegedly an entire tribe of these people living out there somewhere.

_Well I didn't drink their elixir, _she thought,_ so who did?_

Of course, there was only one option. Elphaba's father, Frexspar, would never have been near any such substance. It was highly unlikely even by accident. As a Unionist minister, he drank mostly water and wine and little else. Certainly, he would never elect to consume a mysterious, unknown, green drug.

Melena on the other hand...

Elphaba might not have known her mother for many years before she died, but a few hazy memories came back to her. Milkflowers. Delusions. Craziness. How could Elphaba forget these things when they condemned her sister to a wheelchair and rendered Melena dead?

Elphaba's fist curled into a ball. She suppressed an angry scream. Her mind was reeling.

And suddenly, she had to know.

She shoved back her chair and hurried out of the library with the book tucked underneath her arm. Not caring that she was effectively stealing it, she raced down the long, stone corridors of Shiz. She stopped in the kitchen to steal some food and then went up to her private suite to grab her belongings. Without a second thought, she left the university, pausing only to turn around at the gates and say a silent, wistful goodbye.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

In the chilly night with her cloak wrapped heavily around her, Elphaba wondered if she had made the right decision. Now that the initial euphoria had worn off and tiredness had kicked in, she found herself with little food or funds, and started to miss the comforts of her private suite at Shiz.

As she walked down the street towards the carriage depot, she thought about her family. With her gone, Nessarose would be left in the clutches of Madame Morrible and would have to fend for herself. Elphaba suddenly felt guilty for being selfish, but then another thought formed in the back of her mind, one that she might not have allowed if not for her unique circumstance.

_I gave her everything, and got nothing back._

In hindsight she realised she had spent her whole life being it not her turn now, after all these years, to do something for her own sake? It was this thought that carried her through her journey, blocking out the cruel words of her father Frexspar that echoed through her head, yelling that she was a disgrace to her family.

The streets were quiet and deserted. Elphaba preferred it that way. It meant that no one would ridicule her for her skin, which could occasionally be a massive hindrance. The world was cruel. Not everyone was polite enough to simply pass her by. She shuddered as she remembered a variety of less than pleasant incidents. Many involved her getting injured in some way. She had the scars to prove it.

The moonlight was bright and comforting. Elphaba had spent many nights under her father's roof sitting by the window of her tiny bedroom reading late into the night using the moon as a light source. She'd liked to think that the moon shone extra brightly just for her. Now she smiled a bit as she entertained the idea that the moon was shining extra brightly in order to guide her way. Before long, the carriage depot emerged into view.

Elphaba approached the ticket desk. A young woman was sitting alone dozing, and Elphaba felt a pang of sympathy for her. The woman jolted awake and ran her tiny hands through a mob of brown hair. She looked up at Elphaba and gasped.

'Oh – good – good evening, can I help?'

Elphaba lay what little funds she possessed on the table.

'How far can I get Southwestward?' she asked.

The woman looked at the measley handful of coins.

'The – the Emerald City.'

Elphaba sighed. That wasn't nearly close enough. She pushed the coins towards the girl. It would have to do.

The girl stared at her for a moment. She wrapped her fingers around the coins.

'Um,' she said, 'maybe I can give you a discount. I can get you to the Great Kells, but no further.'

The poor little thing probably thought Elphaba was out to murder her. Her tone was youthful and naive. Elphaba often wondered if ignorance really was bliss – sometimes it seemed like her wealth of understanding of the human race would only serve to hurt her. This girl was blissfully unaware of the cruelties of Oz. Elphaba imagined a nice, happy family, lots of friends, no ridicule, no bullying, harassment, torment...

She blinked. The girl was looking at her expectantly, but not (to Elphaba's surprise) judgrmentally. Elphaba nodded.

'Thanks,' she mumbled.

The carriage drove her silently and swiftly. Her stomach growled but she did not ask to stop since she had no more money to buy food anyway. She munched on the little bits of food she'd managed to steal from the kitchen, but it wasn't long until the food ran out.

Hours passed. Elphaba dozed a bit and couldn't really sleep so she mulled over what she had set out to do. She would have to cross Kumbricia's Pass on foot, which could take days. She would also have to find a food source which could be difficult because she was averse to the idea of murdering an Animal. Yet again she wondered if she'd made the right choice. She could turn back now if she wanted to, but as soon as she set one foot on Kumbricia's Pass there would be no turning back.

The sun began to rise and Elphaba watched as a variety of colours bled across the sky and painted it with rainbows of orange, pink and red. The stars faded into the warm glow of sunlight and Elphaba was finally able to stop shivering.

The carriage had long left behind the ordered and structured cities and had even surpassed the little suburban villages. Now Elphaba was surrounded by nature and could see the faint mountaintops which represented the next part of her journey in the distance. Her stomach twisted in anticipation.

All the while, she pondered the tribe of green people. When it was bright enough, she reread the passage from the library book until she knew it from memory. Doubts began to form. The book had been written over two hundred years ago. What if things had changed since then? What if the tribe had, for instance, died out? She should have done some more research first before leaving, but as usual she had flown off the handle and jumped in at the deep end. The tendency was how she'd always known she would be a terrible politician.

_Nessarose was always the diplomatic one._

It wasn't too long before the mountains loomed over her and the carriage drew to a halt. Elphaba stepped out with her suitcase and muttered her thanks to the driver. She listened as the horses' clobbering footsteps faded into stared between Kumbricia's Pass and the path she'd just arrived from. It was silent except for the faint rustle of leaves.

Slowly, Elphaba set one foot onto Kumbricia's Pass, and then the next, and started on the long trek through the Great Kells.

**A/N: This story has been a nightmare for Ozian geography. I almost had her going to Gillikin, then looked it up and was like, 'Oh wait she's already in Gillikin.' Oops.**


	3. Chapter 3

**The Green People - Chapter 3**

**A/N: So I mentioned my Ozian geography isn't great. I'm really not sure about Kumbricia's Pass, I'm just assuming it's this horrible, barren path with nothing on it. I might be wrong. If so, I'm sorry, but that's how it's going to be for the purpose of this fic.**

**Also, I'm sorry for taking so long to update this. My other story 'Moment of Weakness' suddenly took off and ended up taking priority. But I promise I'm still writing this one!**

Elphaba was used to not speaking for long periods of time.

At home, her opinion had not mattered. Many a diplomatic dinner had passed during which she had suffered in silence while the adults made polite chitchat which segued into deep, in-depth discussions about politics, or Frexspar's faith in Unionism. Occasionally Nessarose would be asked for her opinion. However, for all of Elphaba's strong mind and willingness to learn, if she so much as opened her mouth, her father would diplomatically interrupt and steer the conversation away from her. Later she would be scolded for embarrassing her family, though how she did this, she had no idea.

Her time at Shiz University had not been much different. Shunned by her peers for the colour of her skin, she found herself lonely and without friends. The most conversation that she dared to make was with the professors, who were impressed by her intelligence, but this caused her peers to call her a teachers' pet.

Now she plodded down Kumbricia's Pass in silence. The rocky path seemed endless. Although she didn't mind the silence, her bleary eyes begged her for sleep and her stomach growled for nourishment. She searched up and down for anything that might pass as food but came up dry. By the middle of the day it was almost too much to bear.

She found some shelter under a dead looking tree. Her whole body ached and she collapsed onto the ground, wondering if she'd embarked upon a suicide mission. She curled up against the bark and shut her eyes. Sleep was quick to claim her.

She dreamed of the green people. She dreamed of love and acceptance.

When she awoke it was dark. The moon was out again, twinkling down onto the long path ahead. Elphaba gazed at the moon and silently prayed that she would make it.

It had been a long time since she'd prayed.

She stood up, swayed with dizziness and set off again. She tried to think positively. Perhaps she would find a lake, maybe an apple tree. Someone would find her and help her out of her predicament. Maybe even the green people would rescue her.

But as the night drew on and Elphaba's limbs grew heavier and heavier, she felt those positive thoughts slipping away. People were scarcely found on Kumbricia's Pass. There was no one here but herself.

The sun dawned again.

She kept on as long as she could, gritting her teeth and forcing herself to move. In the head of day she yearned to discard her cloak but she knew that, come night time, it would be her only source of warmth.

A few hours later, when the sun was at its hottest, she stumbled onto her knees, choking back desperate tears. In one second, her hope shattered. She couldn't do this. She couldn't complete her journey. And now she would die alone on Kumbricia's Pass without ever having met the green people she so desperately craved to see.

Weak with thirst she curled into a tight ball in the middle of the path. It was painfully quiet and nobody would find her remains for a long time. She would have rotted into a skeleton by then. Maybe the skeleton would be green too, and they would stick it in a museum on display for all the Ozians to laugh at.

Then, the beautiful gift of noise. Elphaba thought she was imagining things. It was the wind mocking her in her final moments, twisting itself into false illusions of clobbering horses and the cranking wheels of a carriage. A blurry shadow appeared on the horizon.

Her eyes shut and her mind blanked out.


End file.
